CTE: Academy of Finance (AOF)

Students develop money management skills for savings, budgeting, credit and debt management and investing, in addition to planning for future expenses including education, transportation, housing, taxes, insurance, and retirement. Students analyze insurance as risk management, conduct tax functions and examine the financial implications of an inheritance. Students research investment instruments to include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, insurance and tax-sheltering devices. For a culminating project, students prepare financial plans that include saving, investing, borrowing, risk management, and retirement and estate planning. Students take the w!se Financial Literacy Certification (FLC) Exam and the CTECS Workplace Readiness Skills Assessment.

Students learn about the career options available in the financial services industry and develop professional, transferable skills required for successful integration into the 21st-century workplace. Students create electronic portfolios, develop career plans, explore career clusters, identify short- and long-term goals, develop interpersonal skills, apply the decision making process and demonstrate time management, technology, teamwork and communication skills. Students learn about both the nature of the careers found in a particular sector and the scope of such careers as banking, management, finance, hospitality, insurance and real estate. Students work in the Commonwealth One Federal Credit Union.

This course introduces students to the roles of the major functional areas of business and interrelationships among them. Students also learn how international finance issues impact their lives and the world. Organizational theories and techniques are examined. Economic, cultural, political and technological factors affecting business organizations are evaluated. As a culminating project, students develop detailed feasibility and business plans.